The Gun Runners (Action Comics)
The Gun Runners was Issue 15 in the Adventures of Biggles comic series published by Action Comics of Sydney, Australia. Issue 15 was probably published in Oct 1954 with drawings by Arthur de Vine. This comic has nothing in common with Biggles and the Gun Runners which was written later and has a wholly different plotline and geographical setting. The premise of the comic has some similarities with The Renegade but the plot is different. Synopsis Biggles and Ginger head out to Singapore to investigate reports of guns and ammunition being smuggled in to bandits operating in the jungles of the Malayan peninsula. Plot (Click on expand to read) Air Commodore Raymond sends Biggles and Ginger east to solve the puzzle of how arms and ammunition are getting through to bandits operating in the Malayan jungles. Taking a de Havilland Vampire, Biggles and Ginger arrive in Singapore where the security authorities tell them that they suspect the arms are being smuggled in innocent trading junks or even landed by submarine. Biggles decides that undercover work is required, so he and Ginger dress up s sailors and hang out on the waterfront. Pretending to be drunk, Biggles declares that he has something useful to sell. This soon attracts the attention of a man who brings them to meet a Chinese trader. The trader is not convinced by Biggles' story. He suspects they are government agents and calls his men to get detain them. But Biggles and Ginger had been ready for this and a scuffle ensues where our friends manage to overpower their enemies and escape. Biggles doesn't leave the neighbourhood but hides outside and maintains watch. Soon they spot the Chinese trader and follows him to an office buidling. Biggles and Ginger sneak into the office building that night and conduct a search. They find a filing cabinet with a false bottom and photograph the documents which they find there. The photos turn out to be a rich haul. There is a map showing a submarine which had been off the coast of Australia and is somewhere south of Sumatra. Biggles and Ginger take an Avro Shackleton to patrol the area but find nothing. Just before turning back, Biggles decides to refuel at West Island Airport in the Cocos (Keeling) Islands and then make a long cast south and east towards the Australian coast. This time they strike lucky and discover a submarine on the surface. Biggles attacks it with depth charges and disables it, leaving the navy to send a frigate to follow up. On the way back to Singapore. they spot a junk travelling at a high speed, as though powered by an engine. After landing, they transfer to a torpedo boat and set out to investigate. The junk is armed and shoots at them but the torpedo boat returns fire and disables it. Biggles and Ginger board the vessel and discover many cases of weapons. The damaged junk is then taken in tow back to Singapore. Back at security headquarters, Biggles studies the documents he had photographed earlier and finds a map showing the bandit main supply dump 2 miles north of a place called Tanah Merah in Malaya. He reconnoitres the area with Ginger in his Vampire. The bandits wisely hide themselves but a trigger-happy soldier opens fire at the Vampire, thus giving away their position. Biggles radios the bandit position to headquarters but the bullets had hit the aircraft so he makes a crash landing. The bandits move out with the intention of capturing the pilots but Biggles and Ginger manage to surprise one of them, knock him out, and seize his weapon. They hold off the other bandits for some time but then run out of ammunition. Sensing their moment, the bandits prepare to charge but just then a flight of North American F-86 Sabre jets arrive and eliminate the enemy forces as well as their ammo dump. A Westland Whirlwind also shows up to pick Ginger and Biggles up and return them to base. Characters The Special Air Police *Air Commodore Raymond *Biggles *Ginger Hebblethwaite Others Aircraft *de Havilland Vampire *Avro Shackleton *North American F-86 Sabre *Westland Whirlwind Places Visited *Karachi *Calcutta *Singapore *Cocos (Keeling) Islands **West Island Airport *Tanah Merah Research notes Illustrations Editions References Category:Derivative works